Method and system for improving playing quality of mobile TV

ABSTRACT

The present invention provides a method and system for improving playing quality of a mobile TV to address the technical problem that the playing quality of a mobile TV is influenced by network coverage discrepancies of a mobile TV. In the present invention, a terminal detects the network signal intensity of a mobile TV, performs a match determination between the network signal intensity and the data rate of the mobile TV, and requests a mobile TV service platform to dynamically adjust the program data rate of the mobile TV according to the result of the match determination. In this way, the present invention improves the playing quality of the programs of the mobile TV, and enables the user to enjoy programs of the mobile TV satisfactorily in different mobile TV network environments.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to the field of mobile multimediabroadcasting, and in particular to a method and system for improvingplaying quality of a mobile TV.

BACKGROUND

Digital mobile multimedia broadcasting techniques and standards havedeveloped fast in recent years, such as European Digital Video BroadcastHandheld (DVB-H), America Media Forward Link Only (Media FLO) and ChinaMobile Multimedia Broadcasting (CMMB). The various standards provide amobile terminal user of the mobile multimedia broadcasting with variousservices such as advertisement, weather forecast, news, sports show,entertainment show, multimedia broadcasting play, movies and the like.The user can select an interested program that is provided by the mobilemultimedia broadcasting.

The mobile TV service based on CMMB has been developing fast, whichenables a mobile telephone user to watch television programs on a mobiletelephone. Operators are putting more and more investment in theoperation of the CMMB-based mobile TV service, and mobile TV service hasbecome a hot spot and focus concerned by both operators and contentproviders in 3G times.

The playing quality of a mobile TV directly decides the mobile TVservice experience of a user and has a vital influence on the benefitsof the operators and content providers who provide mobile TV services.

At present, the construction progress of mobile TV networks variessignificantly in different regions, and the coverage of a mobile TVnetwork is not uniform even within a same region. As the coverage of aCMMB mobile TV network has a great influence on the playing quality of amobile TV, it becomes a problem that must be taken into considerationand addressed how to provide the user a better program watchingexperience in such a complicated CMMB mobile TV network environment.

SUMMARY

The present invention provides a method and system for improving playingquality of a mobile TV to address the technical problem that the playingquality of a mobile TV is influenced by network coverage discrepanciesof a mobile TV.

In order to address the above problem, the present invention provides amethod for improving playing quality of a mobile TV, which comprises:

when a mobile TV program is played on the mobile terminal, detecting adata rate of the played program and a network signal intensity of amobile TV network by the mobile terminal, determining whether or not thedata rate of the played program matches the detected network signalintensity, and when the data rate of the played program does not matchthe detected network signal intensity, requesting the mobile TV serviceplatform to transmit mobile TV program data whose data rate matches thenetwork signal intensity;

sending by the mobile TV service platform, according to the request ofthe mobile terminal, the mobile TV program data with an adjusted datarate to the mobile terminal.

Further, if determining the data rate of the played program does notmatch the detected network signal intensity, and the data rate of theplayed program is higher than the data rate matching the network signalintensity, the mobile terminal may request the mobile TV serviceplatform to reduce the data rate of the transmitted mobile TV programdata;

the mobile TV service platform may send, according to the request of themobile terminal, the mobile TV program data with reduced data rate tothe mobile terminal.

Further, if determining the data rate of the played program does notmatch the detected network signal intensity, and the data rate of theplayed program is lower than the data rate matching the network signalintensity, the mobile terminal may request the mobile TV serviceplatform to increase the data rate of the transmitted mobile TV programdata;

the mobile TV service platform may send, according to the request of themobile terminal, the mobile TV program data with increased data rate tothe mobile terminal.

Further, before the mobile TV service platform sends the mobile TVprogram data with the adjusted data rate to the mobile terminal, themethod may further comprise:

informing the mobile terminal of the adjusted data rate by the mobile TVservice platform;

determining by the mobile terminal whether or not a resource supportsthe adjusted data rate, and returning a data rate adjustmentconfirmation message to the mobile TV service platform if the resourcesupports the adjusted data rate;

after the data rate adjustment confirmation message is received by themobile TV service platform, sending the mobile terminal the mobile TVprogram data with the adjusted data rate by the mobile TV serviceplatform.

Further, when sending the data rate adjustment confirmation message, themobile terminal may adjust resource occupied by the played mobile TVprogram according to the adjusted data rate: increasing the resourceoccupied by the played mobile TV program if the data rate is increased,or maintaining the resource occupied by the played mobile TV program ifthe data rate is reduced.

The present invention further provides a system for improving playingquality of a mobile TV, which comprises: a mobile terminal and a mobileTV service platform, wherein the mobile terminal comprises a programplaying module, a network signal intensity detection module and aprogram data rate adjustment module, wherein

the program playing module is used for receiving and playing mobile TVprogram data, detecting a data rate of the played program when playingthe mobile TV program, and sending the detected data rate of the playedprogram to the network signal intensity detection module;

the network signal intensity detection module is used for detectingnetwork signal intensity of a mobile TV network, determining a matchdegree between the received data rate of the played program and thedetected network signal intensity, and sending the match degree to theprogram data rate adjustment module;

the program data rate adjustment module is used for determining whetheror not data rate adjustment is needed according to the match degreeafter receiving the match degree, and requesting the mobile TV serviceplatform to transmit mobile TV program data whose data rate matches thenetwork signal intensity if the data rate adjustment is needed;

the mobile TV service platform is used for sending, according to therequest of the program data rate adjustment module, the mobile TVprogram data with an adjusted data rate to the program playing module.

Further, if the program data rate adjustment module determines the datarate adjustment is needed, and the data rate of the played program ishigher than the data rate matching the network signal intensity, theprogram data rate adjustment module may request the mobile TV serviceplatform to reduce the data rate of the transmitted mobile TV programdata;

the mobile TV service platform may send, according to the request of theprogram data rate adjustment module, the mobile TV program data withreduced data rate to the program playing module.

Further, if the program data rate adjustment module determines the datarate adjustment is needed, and the data rate of the played program islower than the data rate matching the network signal intensity, theprogram data rate adjustment module may request the mobile TV serviceplatform to increase the data rate of the transmitted mobile TV programdata;

the mobile TV service platform may send, according to the request of theprogram data rate adjustment module, the mobile TV program data withincreased data rate to the program playing module.

Further, the system may further comprise a program playing resourceadjustment module;

the mobile TV service platform may further be used for informing theprogram playing resource adjustment module of the adjusted data ratebefore sending the mobile TV program data with the adjusted data rate tothe program playing module, and sending the mobile TV program data withthe adjusted data rate to the program playing module after receiving adata rate adjustment confirmation message;

the program playing resource adjustment module may be used fordetermining, after receiving the adjusted data rate, whether or not aresource supports the adjusted data rate, and returning the data rateadjustment confirmation message to the mobile TV service platform if theresource supports the adjusted data rate.

Further, when sending the data rate adjustment confirmation message, theprogram playing resource adjustment module may be further used foradjusting resource occupied by the played mobile TV program according tothe adjusted data rate: increasing the resource occupied by the playedmobile TV program if the data rate is increased, or maintaining theresource occupied by the played mobile TV program if the data rate isreduced.

In conclusion, by detecting the network signal intensity of a mobile TVand dynamically adjusting the program data rate of the mobile TV, thepresent invention improves the program playing quality of the mobile TV,enables the user to enjoy mobile TV programs satisfactorily in differentmobile TV network environments, and provides the user with a bettermobile TV program watching experience, thereby attracting the user tospend much time watching mobile TV programs to increase profits ofmobile TV operators and content service providers.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a flow of a method for improvingplaying quality of a mobile TV according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a structure of a system for improvingplaying quality of a mobile TV according to the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the present invention, network signal intensity of a mobile TV isdetected by a mobile TV client on a mobile terminal, determination ismade on whether or not the network signal intensity matches data rateaccording to the detected network signal intensity and the data rate ofreceived mobile TV program data; if the network signal intensity isunmatched with the data rate, a mobile TV program data rate adjustmentrequest is sent to a mobile TV network side, the network side informsthe mobile terminal of an adjustment result and sends program data withadjusted data rate to the mobile terminal, and the mobile TV clientadjusts resource that is used for playing the mobile TV programaccording to the result of the data rate adjustment. In the presentinvention, the network side is requested to send program data of ahigher data rate in the case where the network signal intensity is highand the data rate of the program data is low, thereby improving theplaying quality of the mobile TV; and the network side is requested tosend program data of a lower data rate in the case where the networksignal intensity is low and the data rate of the program data is high,thereby enabling the mobile terminal to play a mobile TV programnormally.

The data rate, which refers to data traffic used by a video file in aunit time, is the most important factor in picture quality control ofvideo coding. Under a same resolution, a video file with a higher datarate has a smaller compression ratio and a better picture quality.

Specific embodiments of the present invention are described below withreference to accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a flow of a method for improving playing quality of amobile TV according to the present invention, the method comprises thefollowing steps.

Step 101: deploying a mobile TV client on a mobile terminal; after auser activates the mobile TV client, receiving and playing by a programplaying module of the mobile TV client mobile TV program data sent by amobile TV service platform.

Step 102: detecting a data rate of the played program by a programplaying module and sending the detected data rate to a network signalintensity detection module.

Step 103: detecting current network signal intensity by the networksignal intensity detection module.

Step 104: determining a match degree between the detected network signalintensity and the data rate of the played program by the network signalintensity detection module and informing a program data rate adjustmentmodule of the match degree.

The match degree can be divided into the following three grades: Normal,Bad and Good, each of which is defined as follows.

Normal: the current network signal intensity matches the data rate ofthe played program, and no data rate adjustment is needed.

Bad: the current network signal intensity does not match the data rateof the played program and can hardly support playing of the mobile TVprogram at the current data rate, that is, the data rate of the playedprogram is higher than a data rate matching the network signalintensity, and the data rate of the played program needs to be reduced;

Good: the current network signal intensity does not match the data rateof the played program and can support playing the mobile TV program at ahigher data rate, that is, the data rate of the played program is lowerthan the data rate matching the network signal intensity, and the datarate of the played program needs to be increased.

For instance, according to actual use situation, the network signalintensity can be divided into seven grades: grade 0-grade 7, while thedata rate is ranged from 128K to 700K. In a specific embodiment, thecurrent network signal intensity may be set to n. When the grade of thecurrent network signal intensity is 0-3, that is, 0<n≦3, the currentnetwork intensity matches a data rate ranged from 128K to 300K; when thegrade of the current network signal intensity is 3-5, that is, 3<n≦5,the current network signal intensity matches a data rate ranged from300K to 500K; and when the grade of the current network signal intensityis 5-7, that is, 5<n≦7, the current network signal intensity matches adata rate ranged from 500K to 700K. It can be determined that the matchdegree is Normal when the network signal intensity matches the datarate.

Accordingly, if the grade of the network signal intensity is 0-3 whilethe data rate is 300K-500K or 500K-700K, then it can be determined thatthe match degree is Bad. If the grade of the network signal intensity is3-5 while the data rate is 128K-300K, then it can be determined that thematch degree is Good. If the grade of the network signal intensity is3-5 while the data rate is 500K-700K, then it can be determined that thematch degree is Bad. If the grade of the network signal intensity is 5-7while the data rate is 128K-300K or 300K-500K, then it can be determinedthat the match degree is Good.

Step 105: after the match degree sent by the network signal intensitydetection module is received by the program data rate adjustment module,determining whether or not data rate adjustment is needed by the programdata rate adjustment module according to the received match degree, andsending a mobile TV program data rate adjustment request to the mobileTV service platform to request adjustment to the data rate of thetelevision program if data rate adjustment is needed.

After receiving a match degree ‘Normal’, the program data rateadjustment module determines that no data rate adjustment is needed andperforms no processing.

After receiving a match degree ‘Bad’, the program data rate adjustmentmodule sends a data rate reduction request message to the mobile TVservice platform to request the mobile TV service platform to transmitprogram data of a lower data rate grade.

After receiving a match degree ‘Good’, the program data rate adjustmentmodule sends a data rate increase request message to the mobile TVservice platform to request the mobile TV service platform to transmitprogram data of a higher data rate grade.

Step 106: after the data rate adjustment request is received by themobile TV service platform, inquiring by the mobile TV service platforman adjusted data rate as required by the mobile terminal and sending adata rate adjustment result to the mobile terminal to inform the mobileterminal of the adjusted data rate,

wherein multi-grade data rate mobile TV program data is configured inthe mobile TV service platform.

After receiving the data rate reduction request message, the mobile TVservice platform inquires a data rate that is one grade lower than thecurrent data rate of the program data and informs the mobile terminal ofthe result of the inquiry.

After receiving the data rate increase request message, the mobile TVservice platform inquires a data rate that is one grade higher than thecurrent data rate of the program data and informs the mobile terminal ofthe result of the inquiry.

Step 107: after the data rate adjustment result from the mobile TVservice platform is received by the mobile terminal, determining by aprogram playing resource adjustment module of the mobile terminal,according to the data rate adjustment result, whether or not theresource of the mobile terminal supports the adjusted data rate, if so,returning a data rate adjustment confirmation message to the mobile TVservice platform, and performing a corresponding adjustment to theresource occupied by the played mobile TV program according to theadjusted data rate, otherwise, discarding the result of the data rateadjustment and ending the flow.

When finding a reduction in the data rate, the program playing resourceadjustment module maintains the resources such as memory and CPUoccupied by the current mobile TV service unchanged to keep thestability of playing quality of the current mobile TV program.

When finding an increase in the data rate, the program playing resourceadjustment module increases the resources such as memory and CPUoccupied by the mobile TV service according to the adjusted data rate tomatch the resources occupied by the mobile TV service with the adjusteddata rate to improve the playing quality of the television program andprovide the user a better program watching experience.

Step 108: after the data rate adjustment confirmation message isreceived by the mobile TV service platform, sending the program datawith adjusted data rate to the mobile terminal by the mobile TV serviceplatform.

If receiving no data rate adjustment confirmation message, the mobile TVservice platform continues to sending the program data of the currentdata rate.

As shown in FIG. 2, a system for improving the playing quality of amobile TV comprises: a mobile terminal and a mobile TV service platform,wherein the mobile terminal comprises a program playing module, anetwork signal intensity detection module, a program data rateadjustment module, and a program playing resource adjustment module.

The program playing module is used for receiving and playing mobile TVprogram data sent by the mobile TV service platform, detecting a datarate of the played program, and sending the detected data rate to thenetwork signal intensity detection module.

the network signal intensity detection module is used for detectingcurrent network signal intensity, determining a match degree between thedetected network signal intensity and the data rate of the playedprogram, and informing the program data rate adjustment module of thematch degree.

The match degree can be divided into the following three grades: Normal,Bad and Good, each of which is defined as follows.

Normal: the current network signal intensity matches the data rate ofthe played program, and no data rate adjustment is needed.

Bad: the current network signal intensity does not match the data rateof the played program and can hardly support playing of the mobile TVprogram at the current data rate, that is, the data rate of the playedprogram is higher than a data rate matching the network signalintensity, and the data rate of the played program needs to be reduced;

Good: the current network signal intensity does not match the data rateof the played program and can support playing the mobile TV program at ahigher data rate, that is, the data rate of the played program is lowerthan the data rate matching the network signal intensity, and the datarate of the played program needs to be increased.

The program data rate adjustment module is used for determining whetheror not data rate adjustment is needed according to the match degreereceived from the network signal intensity detection module, and sendinga mobile TV program data rate adjustment request to the mobile TVservice platform to request adjustment to the data rate of thetelevision program if data rate adjustment is needed.

After receiving a match degree ‘Normal’, the program data rateadjustment module determines that no data rate adjustment is needed andperforms no processing.

After receiving a match degree ‘Bad’, the program data rate adjustmentmodule sends a data rate reduction request message to the mobile TVservice platform to request the mobile TV service platform to transmitprogram data of a lower data rate grade.

After receiving a match degree ‘Good’, the program data rate adjustmentmodule sends a data rate increase request message to the mobile TVservice platform to request the mobile TV service platform to transmitprogram data of a higher data rate grade.

The program playing resource adjustment module is used for determining,according to the data rate adjustment result, whether or not theresource of the mobile terminal supports the adjusted data rate, if so,returning a data rate adjustment confirmation message to the mobile TVservice platform, and then performing a corresponding adjustment to theresource occupied by the played mobile TV program according to theadjusted data rate, otherwise, discarding the result of the data rateadjustment and ending the flow.

When finding a reduction in the data rate according to the data rateadjustment result, the program playing resource adjustment modulemaintains the resources such as memory and CPU occupied by the currentmobile TV service unchanged to keep the stability of the playing qualityof the current mobile TV program.

When finding an increase in the data rate, the program playing resourceadjustment module increases the resources such as memory and CPUoccupied by the mobile TV service according to the adjusted data rate tomatch the resource occupied by the mobile TV service with the adjusteddata rate to improve the playing quality of the television program andprovide the user a better program watching experience.

The mobile TV service platform is used for inquiring the adjusted datarate as required by the mobile terminal after receiving the data rateadjustment request, sending a data rate adjustment result to the mobileterminal to inform the mobile terminal of the adjusted data rate, andsending the program data with adjusted data rate to the mobile terminalafter receiving the data rate adjustment confirmation message.

With a capability of effectively improving the playing quality of amobile TV and dynamically adjusting the data rate of a mobile TV programand the resource occupied by the played mobile TV program on the mobileterminal according to the result of detection of the current networksignal intensity of the mobile TV, the present invention enables theuser to enjoy a better mobile TV service experience in different networkcoverage environments and therefore effectively extending the time ofusing mobile TV service by the user and increasing the profits of mobileTV service operators.

The above mentioned are only preferred embodiments of the invention,rather than limitation to the invention. Various modification andvariations can be made by those skilled in this art, and it should beunderstood that any modification, equivalent and improvement withoutdeparting from the scope of the present invention fall into theprotection scope of the present invention.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A method for improving playing quality of amobile TV, applicable to a system comprising a mobile TV serviceplatform and a mobile terminal, comprising: when a mobile TV program isplayed on the mobile terminal, detecting a data rate of the playedprogram and a network signal intensity of a mobile TV network by themobile terminal, determining whether or not the data rate of the playedprogram matches the detected network signal intensity, and when the datarate of the played program does not match the detected network signalintensity, requesting the mobile TV service platform to transmit mobileTV program data whose data rate matches the network signal intensity;sending by the mobile TV service platform, according to the request ofthe mobile terminal, the mobile TV program data with an adjusted datarate to the mobile terminal.
 2. The method according to claim 1, whereinif the mobile terminal determines the data rate of the played programdoes not match the detected network signal intensity, and the data rateof the played program is higher than the data rate matching the networksignal intensity, requesting by the mobile terminal the mobile TVservice platform to reduce the data rate of the transmitted mobile TVprogram data; sending by the mobile TV service platform, according tothe request of the mobile terminal, the mobile TV program data withreduced data rate to the mobile terminal.
 3. The method according toclaim 2, wherein if the mobile terminal determines the data rate of theplayed program does not match the detected network signal intensity, andthe data rate of the played program is lower than the data rate matchingthe network signal intensity, requesting by the mobile terminal themobile TV service platform to increase the data rate of the transmittedmobile TV program data; sending by the mobile TV service platform,according to the request of the mobile terminal, the mobile TV programdata with increased data rate to the mobile terminal.
 4. The methodaccording to claim 3, before the mobile TV service platform sends themobile TV program data with the adjusted data rate to the mobileterminal, further comprising: informing the mobile terminal of theadjusted data rate by the mobile TV service platform; determining by themobile terminal whether or not a resource supports the adjusted datarate, and returning a data rate adjustment confirmation message to themobile TV service platform if the resource supports the adjusted datarate; after the data rate adjustment confirmation message is received bythe mobile TV service platform, sending the mobile terminal the mobileTV program data with the adjusted data rate by the mobile TV serviceplatform.
 5. The method according to claim 4, wherein when the data rateadjustment confirmation message is sent by the mobile terminal,adjusting by the mobile terminal resource occupied by the played mobileTV program according to the adjusted data rate: increasing the resourceoccupied by the played mobile TV program if the data rate is increased,or maintaining the resource occupied by the played mobile TV program ifthe data rate is reduced.
 6. The method according to claim 2, whereinsaid that determining whether or not the data rate of the played programmatches the detected network signal intensity, comprising: dividing thenetwork signal intensity into several grades; setting the matching datarate range for each grade; and determining the data rate of the playedprogram whether or not be in the data rate range matching the detectednetwork signal intensity.
 7. A system for improving playing quality of amobile TV, comprising: a mobile terminal and a mobile TV serviceplatform, wherein the mobile terminal comprises a program playingmodule, a network signal intensity detection module and a program datarate adjustment module, wherein the program playing module is used forreceiving and playing mobile TV program data, detecting a data rate ofthe played program when playing the mobile TV program, and sending thedetected data rate of the played program to the network signal intensitydetection module; the network signal intensity detection module is usedfor detecting network signal intensity of a mobile TV network,determining a match degree between the received data rate of the playedprogram and the detected network signal intensity, and sending the matchdegree to the program data rate adjustment module; the program data rateadjustment module is used for determining whether or not data rateadjustment is needed according to the match degree after receiving thematch degree, and requesting the mobile TV service platform to transmitmobile TV program data whose data rate matches the network signalintensity if the data rate adjustment is needed; the mobile TV serviceplatform is used for sending, according to the request of the programdata rate adjustment module, the mobile TV program data with an adjusteddata rate to the program playing module.
 8. The method according toclaim 7, wherein if the program data rate adjustment module determinesthe data rate adjustment is needed, and the data rate of the playedprogram is higher than the data rate matching the network signalintensity, the program data rate adjustment module requests the mobileTV service platform to reduce the data rate of the transmitted mobile TVprogram data; the mobile TV service platform sends, according to therequest of the program data rate adjustment module, the mobile TVprogram data with reduced data rate to the program playing module. 9.The system according to claim 8, wherein if the program data rateadjustment module determines the data rate adjustment is needed, and thedata rate of the played program is lower than the data rate matching thenetwork signal intensity, the program data rate adjustment modulerequests the mobile TV service platform to increase the data rate of thetransmitted mobile TV program data; the mobile TV service platformsends, according to the request of the program data rate adjustmentmodule, the mobile TV program data with increased data rate to theprogram playing module.
 10. The system according to claim 9, furthercomprising: a program playing resource adjustment module; the mobile TVservice platform is further used for informing the program playingresource adjustment module of the adjusted data rate before sending themobile TV program data with the adjusted data rate to the programplaying module, and sending the mobile TV program data with the adjusteddata rate to the program playing module after receiving a data rateadjustment confirmation message; the program playing resource adjustmentmodule is used for determining, after receiving the adjusted data ratefrom the mobile TV service platform, whether or not a resource supportsthe adjusted data rate, and returning the data rate adjustmentconfirmation message to the mobile TV service platform if the resourcesupports the adjusted data rate.
 11. The system according to claim 10,wherein the program playing resource adjustment module is further usedfor, when sending the data rate adjustment confirmation message,adjusting resource occupied by the played mobile TV program according tothe adjusted data rate: increasing the resource occupied by the playedmobile TV program if the data rate is increased, or maintaining theresource occupied by the played mobile TV program if the data rate isreduced.
 12. The system according to claim 7, wherein the network signalintensity detection module is further used for dividing the networksignal intensity into several grades; setting the matching data raterange for each grade; and determining the data rate of the playedprogram whether or not be in the data rate range matching the detectednetwork signal intensity.